ISEP fights plastic pollution and is granted LIPOR’s “Coração Verde” certification

It’s been a year now that the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) decided to put a stop to the process of selling 33 cl water plastic bottles within its premises. This was but step one to Porto Engineering Institute to initiate its path toward sustainability. This effort was acknowledged by Porto City Hall, municipal company Porto Ambiente and LIPOR, with the granting of the award “Coração Verde” [“Green Heart”, free translation].

The circa 160 thousand plastic bottles were replaced by water dispensers, drinking water equipment and refillable glass or plastic bottles. As a result, 123 tons of waste were sent for recycling, 23 tons sent for organic valorisation; also, 60 waste collection points and 150 collection of recyclable waste stations were set up, seven thousand people were sensitised and motivated to the waste collection issue, and 50 technical elements of ISEP received appropriate training.

The “Think globally, act locally!” project started in 2019 with the signing of the Commitment Letter Geração +. This initiative also encompasses the collection of organic waste, the project Dose Certa in the Canteen to prevent food waste and the generation of waste.

ISEP is the first High Education institution to receive the “Coração Verde”. LIPOR, the Intermunicipal Waste Management Service of Greater Porto (Portugal) stated that “this recognition is the result of environmental management and process optimization, and good environmental practices and maintain habitats, in the field of urban waste management generated by their facilities”.

The LIPOR Geração+ project, which relies on the participation of Porto City Hall, via the municipal company Porto Ambiente, grants the “Coração Verde” certification to educational and social institutions, promotes the commitment of citizens towards environmental good practice, by facilitating the acquisition of skills required to meet the challenges of plastic pollution solutions.